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Freebies / Homeschool Den / Language Arts - Grammar Worksheets / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 25, 2013 · Last modified February 24, 2016
I made a few matching worksheets for the kids to go over the concepts of synonyms (words that have a similar meaning) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite or nearly the opposite of each other). Although the kids probably know most of these words, I’m going to have them work together to fill these out. If you’re interested you can download your own copy of these free grammar worksheets:...
We had a crazy busy weekend and it ended with LD being sick all night. We stayed close to home yesterday. Last night, DD came down with the same bad tummy bug and tossed her cookies all night and into the morning. I’m just feeling tired and worn out and have a bit of a headache myself. I can think of twelve things I should do … especially yard work...
History: Africa Unit / Must Read / Trips We've Taken
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 23, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
As I mentioned yesterday, the kids are raising money to buy some livestock for Heifer International. When I looked on the map, I saw that the Heifer has various learning centers around the country. We called and made arrangements to visit Shepherd’s Spring in Maryland. Oh my goodness, what an amazing trip we had!!! The program director was so engaging with the kids and she led us on a 3+...
History: Africa Unit / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 22, 2013 · Last modified February 20, 2017
One of the lovely things about homeschooling is that we can reach out to our community — both near and far. The kids and I helped a bit here in our community by volunteering at the local food pantry during the fall. They bagged apples and passed them out to people who came to the bi-weekly food bank. This semester, we’re doing a service project that spins off from our...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Homeschool Den / Language Arts: Writing
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 19, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
ED really enjoys writing… Here’s a picture of ED writing in her journal from last January. The kids and I made a special trip to Staples for them to pick out their own journals. I offered to write whatever they wanted for them, so they could record things about their day. While I wrote heaps for DD and LD, much to my surprise, ED insisted on writing in her journal...
History: Africa Unit / Homeschool Den / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 18, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
The Internet is so wonderful because you connect with and make friends with people from all over the world. I’ve made some good friends through my years of blogging with whom I email pretty regularly. One of the friends we’ve had for years live in the Gambia… and they sent us a care package that fit in absolutely perfectly with our studies of West Africa!! The kids were SO SO...
History: Africa Unit / History: Geography Activities
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 17, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
It has been quite a while since I talked about our African Unit. I think the last time I wrote, I shared the history pages I made about the Ghana and Mali Empires. We had also learned about some famous Africans such as Sundiata and Mansa Musa. The past couple of weeks, we’ve been learning more about contemporary Africa. We’ve been doing a lot of reading from Journey into Africa:...
Homeschool Den / Mom Stories / Outdoor Fun
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 16, 2013 · Last modified April 10, 2016
Let’s face it, my life, especially when you look at the blog, revolves around the kids and homeschooling. I spend a lot of time preparing for homeschooling; the kids and I spend time working on their schoolwork, projects and activities; I blog about homeschooling; and I’m even (gulp) trying to write a book — not about zombies (though I did meet a woman at LD’s Parkour (sport’s) class who writes...
It made me cry to hear that one of the victims was 8 years old. As a Mom and a runner, I’m heartbroken for the family and for all the victims today. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know that I’m a runner. I ran the Boston Marathon twice, plus a number of other races that attract large numbers of participants and spectators. The Boston Marathon...
Ages 2-6: Preschool (Age 4) / Homeschool Den / Math General Posts / Math: Preschool Math / Must Read
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 15, 2013 · Last modified April 29, 2016
It’s been a while since I talked about ED’s preschool math work. Here are some of the things we’ve been working on together during her math time. We’ve been starting by blasting off to space… 10, 9, 8, 7… or counting down from 20. (Yes, ED is in her pjs!) She’s practiced using tally sticks to lay out (or identify) numbers up to twenty. I’ve also been having her identify...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 12, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
I thought it might be useful to pull a lot of our letter-activities together into one post, although we didn’t ever focus exclusively on letters. We generally had a theme or unit (astronomy, birds, volcanoes, bears, pirates, princesses and whatever else the kids were interested in at the time…) and we added in these types of activities to supplement whatever else was going on. So, just keep in mind that...
Ages 2-6: Preschool and Toddler Activities / Ages 2-6: Preschool at Home / Ages 2-6: Toddler/Preschool Activities / Language Arts: Reading
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 12, 2013 · Last modified February 21, 2016
I thought it might be useful to pull a lot of our letter-activities together into one post, although we didn’t ever focus exclusively on letters. We generally had a theme or unit (astronomy, birds, volcanoes, bears, pirates, princesses and whatever else the kids were interested in at the time…) and we added in these types of activities to supplement whatever else was going on. So, just keep in mind that...
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 11, 2013 · Last modified March 16, 2016
We’ve been traveling quite a bit. We met up with my sister in Washington D.C. who flew in from Nashville for a couple of days. Our family took the opportunity to see some sites while my sister was working. We had to check out the cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin: On our walks we saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial (from afar, the kids didn’t have the energy to...
Freebies / Health / Homeschool Den / Science / Science: Digestive System / Science: Human Body Unit
by Liesl - Homeschool Den · Published April 10, 2013 · Last modified January 21, 2020
No, no one choked at our house recently, but we did go into a lot of detail about swallowing and choking a few days ago. I wanted to find a way for the kids to really understand how choking happens — and then to know what to do about it. Now, don’t take this as expert advice… if you really want to know details about doing abdominal thrusts (Heimlich Maneuver)...
Do you believe education can be exciting, inspiring, and full of joy? We do too!
I love the quote by William Butler Yeats, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." It's about getting the kids involved, engaged, and fired up about learning (while juggling the rest of life too!)
A bit about me: I have my Master's from Brown University. I have more than 20 years of teaching experience. I was a high school teacher for many years both in the U.S. and internationally and also taught for the University of Maryland before leaving to homeschool my 3 wonderful kids.
To read more about us CLICK HERE.
Click on the image to find out more about the units and packets we have available.
This post has links to dozens of posts and resources both for new and veteran homeschoolers for everything from finding homeschool curriculum to general homeschool advice and encouragement.
Click on the image above to see the History Units we covered in our homeschool.
What science topics could I teach my 5-7 year old - Homeschool Science Curriculum
Click on the image above to see the Science Units we covered in our homeschool from elementary through middle school (and beyond!).
A list of the books we've used most in history, science, math, language arts, etc.
Click the image to check out our packets on Earth Science, Rocks and Minerals, the Atmosphere, Weather, Energy and More!
Units are also sold separately.
This is one of our most popular units. It covers the Layers of the Earth, Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, Volcanoes and More! It is included in the Earth Science Bundle (see the picture/link above).
Click the image to see our Biology Units on Animal and Plant Cells; the Biology Unit on Biomes, Food Chains, Symbiosis; Scientific Classification & Taxonomy (Domain/Kingdom/Phylum/Class, etc.); Botany - Plant Kingdom and Oceans and Oceanography.
Click on the image to see our Animal Bundle - including the Animal Unit, Life Cycles, the Rainforest, Winter (Polar Animals) & Hibernation, Chameleons, Wolves, Cicadas and more!
The Human Body Systems, Skeletal, Digestive, Circulatory, Muscular, Nervous, Endocrine Systems and More (with lots of hands-on activity ideas)! We usually study a different body system each year.
Click on the image to see our units on the States of matter, Properties of Matter, Electricity & Circuits, and the Chemistry Unit (Get to know the Periodic Table in a fun way!)
This is a free checklist I put together of the various science units I hope to cover in the elementary and middle school years.
Do your kids know the 4 largest countries? Which countries have the most people? The longest river? This packet covers basic world and U.S. facts and also covers geographic features and land forms.
Click on the image to check out our 100-page unit on World War I.
We have used AAS for 6 years! AAS is an affiliate link.
Dozens of posts about how to create a homeschool writing workshop.
Click on the image to check out all of our fun K-2 Math Packets.
This is one of the best values we have... more than 20 PDFs with games, activities and worksheets to learn/practice the multiplication facts ($7.00).
Click on the image to discover some of the pages, posts and homeschool resources within our blog that might be the most useful for you including a long list of our freebies!
Click on the image to check out our 100+page Rocks and Minerals Unit.
This is a fun, hands-on unit for early elementary students!
How the body is organized from cells to tissues... organs to body systems
Click on the image to check out some of the Spanish worksheet bundles we have available!
Click on the image above to check out our German worksheets.
Click on the image to find out more about our units and packets.
